Ashes Read Free Page B

you!” Ellie kicked at Alex’s WindPro. The tiny stove overturned and the coffee press tumbled to the rocks in a spray of glass and hot liquid. The dog danced out of the way with a startled yip. “No one asked you!”
    â€œEllie!” Jack made a grab for his granddaughter. “That’s enough !”
    â€œI hate this.” Ellie slithered out of reach. “I hate this, I hate you, I hate these woods, I hate everybody ! Just leave me alone !”
    â€œCool off!” Jack rapped, his patience finally snapping. “Go for a walk. Get control of yourself, you understand me?”
    â€œFine!” Ellie spat. She jammed in her earbuds and stalked in the direction of the trail Alex had traveled the day before. The dog began to trot after, but the girl hurled a command over her shoulder: “Stay!” The dog faltered, then took another uncertain step after the girl. Ellie fetched up a stick and cocked it like a baseball bat. “Stay, you dumb dog, stay !”
    â€œEllie!” Jack roared. “Don’t you dare hit that dog! Mina, come !” As the dog sprinted back, Jack said to the girl, “Sweetheart, honey, why do you have to be so hateful?”
    â€œWhy not ?” Ellie said. “It’s not like being good ever got me anywhere.” Then she whirled on her heel and flung herself into the woods.
    â€œIt’s been a very hard year. With her mother gone God-knows-where and my Mary passed on, it’s just me,” Jack said. He cupped a handful of jagged glass. “Look, I’ll be happy to pay for this.”
    â€œNo, no, it’s okay. I understand,” Alex said, but she was pissed. Jack was nice enough, but she had her own problems and, now, no coffee press. Thank God she’d packed instant. She inspected her WindPro and almost groaned. Two of the struts were bent, and she didn’t like the way the fuel hose was kinked. With her luck, she’d have to take a rock to the metal, maybe bash it straight. “Careful you don’t cut yourself, Jack.”
    â€œOh, I’m pretty tough for an old bird. Well, all except my ticker. Got me this new pacer about six months ago.” Jack dumped glass into the empty Krispy Kreme bag. “It’s Ellie got me worried. She’s a little time bomb. I was hoping if I could get away with her awhile, maybe do some fishing … People mean well, but there’s just so much sympathy a little girl can take.”
    Alex could definitely relate. Everyone was always so sorry when, really, sorry was just a word you said because it was more polite than whoa, better you than me . “Where’s her mom?”
    Jack grunted. “Hell if I know. She took off a year after Ellie was born. Said she needed time to get her head on straight, needed to find herself. Get herself lost is more like it. Haven’t seen her since. You know the world’s screwed up when they make you get a license if you want a dog but let any fool have a kid.” He sighed. “A lot of this is my fault.”
    â€œHow do you figure that?”
    Jack waved a hand at the dog, which sprawled on its belly in a doze. “Mina was my idea. Once the dogs are retired—if they’re too banged up to work or just plain old—the military lets handlers’ families adopt, if they want. Mina was wounded in the same blast that killed Danny, so I thought having her would make Ellie feel better, like having a little bit of her father still around. He loved that dog, but Ellie hates it. She’s really not a bad kid. Most of the time she’s about as cooperative as you can expect a sad, really angry eight-year-old girl to be.”
    â€œThat doesn’t sound so great.”
    â€œYou get used to it. I thought it would do her good to unplug and get out in the fresh air, spend some time with Mina …” Jack waved away the rest. “Enough of that. So what’s your story?”
    â€œMe?”